Vehicle pollution 'results in 4m child asthma cases a year'

Four million children develop asthma every year as a result of air pollution from cars and trucks, equivalent to 11,000 new cases a day, a landmark study has found.

Most of the new cases occur in places where pollution levels are already below the World Health

 Organization limit, suggesting toxic air is even more harmful than thought.

The damage to children’s health is not limited to China and India, where pollution levels are particularly high. In UK and US cities, the researchers blame traffic pollution for a quarter of all new childhood asthma cases.

Canada has the third highest rate of new traffic-related asthma cases among the 194 nations analysed, while Los Angeles and New York City are in the top 10 worst cities out of the 125 assessed. Children are especially vulnerable to toxic air and exposure is also known to leave them with stunted lungs.

The research, published in the journal Lancet Planetary Health, is the first global assessment of the impact of traffic fumes on childhood asthma based on high-resolution pollution data.

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Early years garden here at Oak House!

Problems caused by climate change...

CORAL REEF BLEACHING

Climate change causes water temperatures to get hotter, this can result in
coral bleaching. When water is too warm corals will extract the algae called
zooxanthellae living in their tissues causing the coral to turn completely white.
In 2005, the U.S. lost half of its coral reefs in the Caribbean in one year. This
was because of a humongous bleaching event. The warm waters centered
around the northern Antilles near the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. The
satellite data from the previous 20 years confirmed that thermal stress from
2005 it was greater than the previous 20 years combined.
In conclusion, the coral reefs are dying and we need to act now by making
sure our planet is more sustainable.

Thanks to Valentina for sending us this post!

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